GROTON -- Town Meeting approved the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District's budget by a ratio of more than 2-to-1 on Monday night, giving the district an initial victory as it seeks an override to restore various staff positions and services.

After more than an hour of debate in which residents, school officials and selectmen offered varying levels of support and opposition, Town Meeting Moderator Jason Kauppi sent the specific motion (Article 4, motion 4b on the warrant) to a vote among the hundreds of residents that packed Groton-Dunstable Middle School's auditorium.

Because some residents challenged Kauppi's initial ruling that the budget passed with a majority -- as they are permitted to do under state law -- Kauppi called for a counted vote, during which residents held up purple cards to indicate their stance. The budget passed 313-152.

"I'm very grateful to the voters of the town of Groton for their support of our needs-based budget, and I look forward to residents showing their support at the ballot," Superintendent of Schools Kristan Rodriguez said.

Articles 1-4, including all subsections, passed with majority votes.

Article 7, which funds a feasibility study to determine the future needs of the Groton Senior Center, was pushed up since the study is time-sensitive, and it also passed with a majority.

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The remainder of the articles were deferred until the next session of Town Meeting on May 23.

With the vote on the school district's budget, Groton took its first step toward an override that proponents say is crucial in order to help improve school performance. District officials claim a decrease in state aid has caused a variety of problems -- including declining test scores, widening performance gaps, and excessive class sizes -- and that fulfilling the district's needs assessment would reverse those trends.

"We must do it for our children," said former Superintendent of Schools Mary Jennings, who spoke as an audience member during Town Meeting. "It's a big bite of an apple, but we must make it now, and we must trust our new, talented superintendent and this wonderful School Committee."

Selectman Jack Petropoulos gave a counterpresentation to the district's. He argued that in some statistical fields, the district does match up well with peer districts and, thus, an override may not be necessary.

And with an estimated additional tax burden of $121 per $100,000 of assessed home value, opponents say the override will add excessive financial stress to residents, particularly seniors and low-income households.

"I don't think a lot of people out there realize how many people in this community have total incomes less than $20,000 per year," said Jenifer Evans, a member of the Board of Assessors, who spoke as an audience member. "I look at a 10 percent raise in property taxes, and my heart goes out to those people. ... I cannot see putting that 10 percent burden on these seniors and low-income people."

Before the final vote was cast, resident Gary Roy moved to decrease the district's line-item allotment of money, but that measure failed.

Next, residents will vote whether to allow the Proposition 2 1/2 override itself at the May 17 town elections. Since the school district and general government budgets approved Monday depend on an override, if the ballot item fails in May, officials will be forced to come up with new budget solutions for Town Meeting's second session six days later.

The override discussion has exposed a tension in Groton, a town that depends on its residents for a large percentage of its revenue. Some were concerned that the override would put the town in a hole in the future, but as Finance Committee member Bud Robertson explained Monday, the town faces a deficit in future years regardless.

"If we don't raise the tax level up, we're still going to have the same problem," he said.

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